How did people organise themselves? One of the problems facing early civilizations was setting up laws to govern themselves once people started living in communities instead of hunting, gathering, and roaming for food. Four thousand years later, we take a lot of this for granted. But, it is a slow process, and we are still trying to perfect it today. King Hammurabi ruled Babylon, located along the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers, from 1792-1750 BCE. During his time as king he oversaw a great expansion of his kingdom from a city-state to an empire. However, today he is most famous for a series of judgments inscribed on a large stone stele and dubbed Hammurabi's Code. Scholars are still debating its precise significance as a set of laws, but the Code's importance as a reflection of Babylonian society is indisputable.
Turning Points in History: Hammurabi's code of Laws.
This is the upper part of the stele that is approximately 7' 4" tall. The laws, written in cuneiform, are inscribed on the lower part of the monument. Hammurabi, King of Babylon reunited Mesopotamia and instituted the Code of Hammurabi, a comprehensive set of laws addressing nearly all aspects of both civil and criminal offences. Hammurabi is portrayed receiving the laws directly from Shamash the sun god. Shamash is the dominant figure—he is seated on his throne and wears a crown composed of four pairs of horns, holds a ring and staff, and has flames issuing from his shoulders. Although Hammurabi is subservient to the god he still makes a powerful authority statement by addressing the god directly. Even though he has his hand raised in reverence he shows that he has a personal relationship with the gods while mere mortals do not.
What does Hammurabi's Code tell us about Babylonian Society?
Task 2: These are some excerpts from Hammurabi's Code, analyse them and then record what they tell us about different aspects of life in Hammurabi's time.
Task 3: This is part of the Epilogue (afterword) of the code, highlight the words or phrases which indicate the message Hammurabi was trying to send about his law code.
Although evidence suggests that the Minoan civilisation of Crete was already well established by 2000 B.C.E, it was around the same time as Hammurabi was unifying Mesopotamia that early Indo-European were arriving and settling the southern Greek mainland. They built fortified cities, and Mycenae in particular was well-established: Its Kings dominated Greece until around 1600-1100 B.C.E. Both the Minoan and Mycenaean civilisations were cultured societies, using an early form of Greek writing known as Linear B. Some of which has influenced our own modern vocabulary as can be seen below:
Greece experiences what some historians describe as a "Dark Age" between 1150-750 B.C.E. possibly as a result of invasion by Dorian (illiterate) tribes and the weakening of both Mycenaean and Minoan cities by major earthquakes. However an alphabet is re-introduced by Phoenician traders c.750 B.C.E and during the 800-700's B.C.E. city-states begin to develop once again. The POLIS (Greek City-State) becomes the fundamental political unit of ancient Greece after about 750 B.C.E. each with very distinct characteristics and fierce pride in their way of life. In fact one of the few things that the Ancient Greeks agreed on was that being Greek was far superior than being anything else - all non-Greeks were barbarians! So....
What was Special about the Greeks?
Firstly, Greek Geography shaped their way of life - Find out how....
[[image:webkit-fake-url///EBBC5063-5BA1-4064-9026-5A2FED7363F1/application.pdf width="429" height="164"]] Athens is a primary example of the further development of civilization. As an ancient city state, the Athenians laid the foundations for modern western civilization- government, education, the arts, architecture, philosophy, science and sports have all evolved as a result of the Athenian society. Our focus on Athens will be its 'Golden Age' from 460 BC, under the leadership of Pericles. His pursuit of the development of democracy will have implications for the Athenian society as well as continue to impact the governments of civilizations in other parts of the world. Ancient Athens Part 1Ancient Athens Part 2
One of the problems facing early civilizations was setting up laws to govern themselves once people started living in communities instead of hunting, gathering, and roaming for food. Four thousand years later, we take a lot of this for granted. But, it is a slow process, and we are still trying to perfect it today.
King Hammurabi ruled Babylon, located along the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers, from 1792-1750 BCE. During his time as king he oversaw a great expansion of his kingdom from a city-state to an empire. However, today he is most famous for a series of judgments inscribed on a large stone stele and dubbed Hammurabi's Code. Scholars are still debating its precise significance as a set of laws, but the Code's importance as a reflection of Babylonian society is indisputable.
Turning Points in History: Hammurabi's code of Laws.
This is the upper part of the stele that is approximately 7' 4" tall. The laws, written in cuneiform, are inscribed on the lower part of the monument. Hammurabi, King of Babylon reunited Mesopotamia and instituted the Code of Hammurabi, a comprehensive set of laws addressing nearly all aspects of both civil and criminal offences. Hammurabi is portrayed receiving the laws directly from Shamash the sun god. Shamash is the dominant figure—he is seated on his throne and wears a crown composed of four pairs of horns, holds a ring and staff, and has flames issuing from his shoulders. Although Hammurabi is subservient to the god he still makes a powerful authority statement by addressing the god directly. Even though he has his hand raised in reverence he shows that he has a personal relationship with the gods while mere mortals do not.
What does Hammurabi's Code tell us about Babylonian Society?
Task 1 Homework: Answer the four 'interactive' questions using this link
Interactive Stela Questions
Task 2: These are some excerpts from Hammurabi's Code, analyse them and then record what they tell us about different aspects of life in Hammurabi's time.
Task 3: This is part of the Epilogue (afterword) of the code, highlight the words or phrases which indicate the message Hammurabi was trying to send about his law code.
For fun: Test your knowledge of Hammurabi's Code by deciding how he would have punished these crimes!
What would Hammurabi have done? Scenario Game
The classic game of strategy and resource allocation Hammurabi Strategy Game
Ancient Greece
Although evidence suggests that the Minoan civilisation of Crete was already well established by 2000 B.C.E, it was around the same time as Hammurabi was unifying Mesopotamia that early Indo-European were arriving and settling the southern Greek mainland. They built fortified cities, and Mycenae in particular was well-established: Its Kings dominated Greece until around 1600-1100 B.C.E. Both the Minoan and Mycenaean civilisations were cultured societies, using an early form of Greek writing known as Linear B. Some of which has influenced our own modern vocabulary as can be seen below:Greece experiences what some historians describe as a "Dark Age" between 1150-750 B.C.E. possibly as a result of invasion by Dorian (illiterate) tribes and the weakening of both Mycenaean and Minoan cities by major earthquakes. However an alphabet is re-introduced by Phoenician traders c.750 B.C.E and during the 800-700's B.C.E. city-states begin to develop once again. The POLIS (Greek City-State) becomes the fundamental political unit of ancient Greece after about 750 B.C.E. each with very distinct characteristics and fierce pride in their way of life. In fact one of the few things that the Ancient Greeks agreed on was that being Greek was far superior than being anything else - all non-Greeks were barbarians! So....
What was Special about the Greeks?
Firstly, Greek Geography shaped their way of life - Find out how....
Using the PDF files on Greek Geography complete the following worksheet, your answers can be recorded as bullet point notes.
[[image:webkit-fake-url///EBBC5063-5BA1-4064-9026-5A2FED7363F1/application.pdf width="429" height="164"]]
Athens is a primary example of the further development of civilization. As an ancient city state, the Athenians laid the foundations for modern western civilization- government, education, the arts, architecture, philosophy, science and sports have all evolved as a result of the Athenian society. Our focus on Athens will be its 'Golden Age' from 460 BC, under the leadership of Pericles. His pursuit of the development of democracy will have implications for the Athenian society as well as continue to impact the governments of civilizations in other parts of the world. Ancient Athens Part 1 Ancient Athens Part 2